Lifting hook



H. J. CRIMMEL LIFTING HOOK April 7, 1953 Filed July 1, 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET l INVENTOR F/ G 2. HAROLD J. CR/MMEL A 7' TORNE H. J. CRIMMEL A ril 7, 1953 LIFTING HOOK Filed July 1, 1949 2 SI-lEETS-SI-IEET 2 INVETOR I Patented Apr. 7, 1953 LIFIIN G HOOK Harold J. .Crimmel, Lewistown, Pa., 'assignor ito Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton Corporation, a corporation of Pennsylvania I Application July 1; 1949, Serial'No.'102,495

16 Claims. 1

This invention relates generally to lifting devicesiand more particularly to an automatic lift-- ing Lhodk'for hollow and other similarly recessed Objects such as railway wheel tires.-

"While my automatic lifting hook may be effectively employed" in many industrial shops for avariety of uses, aswill be readily apparent, it has' especial application to the handling of stacks of ste'el rings and railway wheel tires "in and out of the furnaces of heat treating plants. Various types of lifting hooks have been heretofore proposed and used but the same are deficient in many respects-either structurally or functionally, or "economically as to its first cost or maintenance.

An" object of my invention is 'to provide an improved lifting hookthat is capable in a simple, effective and automatic manner to lock the legs in a collapsed position or unlock the same to allow spreading thereof when the hook is lowered into the stack of tires.

Otherobjects and advantages will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description of the "accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. '1 is an elevat'ional View of my improved lifting hook ready to be lowered into or withdrawn from a hollow object, showing the stem thereof locked against upwardmovement and the legs in collapsed position;

Fig. 2 is a similarview showing "the hook with its feet on the ground within a stack of steel tires resting on blocks, the stem being unlocked but the "legs still in collapsed position;

Fig.3 is a similar view to Figs. 1 and 2, showing the hook in position for lifting the stack of tires, the legs being spread so that the feet engage the underside of the stack;

Fig. '4 is a sectional plan View along the line. 4-4 of Fig. 1, showing the legs and key p'ivotally connected thereto;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the key;

Figs. 6 to are cross-sectional views respectively along the lines 6-6 of Fig. 1, l---.'! and 99 of Figs 2., and 88 and l0l0 of Fig. 3,

' showing the relation of the cam pins to the lower of a leg support I having three radial projections? 2 and acentral vertical opening 3,.Eig.4. 'Pivoted by pins 4 to projections '2 are legs 5, having outwardly turned ends or feet 6. Vertical cam supports I are secured to the upper sideuof leg -'sup-" port I, and welded to these supports in axial alignmentwith each other and with central opening 3 are upper helical cams 8 having-faces 9 and lower helical cams Ill having faces l ly-both upper and lower cams being formed preferablyfrom tubular sections. Freely movable through these tubular cams and opening 3 is a stem 11'2- whose upper end forms an eye l'3- by which'the thereon by a nut l5. larger than that of an imaginary circle touching the inner edges of legs 5 so that as stem 12 raises,

bell It, as hereinafter described, legs 5 are spread" radially, and as stem l2 lowers bell ['4 the legs areallowed to collapse under their own weight. At fixed to stem [2 between the upper and lower cams to cooperate respectively with cam faces .9 and II are upper and lower cam pins 16 and 1f| vertically offset from each other approximately 45, as shown in Figs. 6 to 1-0. Cam faces 9 and H are so angularly disposed to the vertical and. are so vertically off-set from each other that when stem 12 is allowed by the crane to move vertically downwardly bygravity or when stem l2 is raised vertically by the crane, the upper and lower cam pins, thus respectively brought into contact with cam faces 9 and II, cause the stem at the end of each such linear stroke to "be spiralled in the same direction, the direction chosen for the drawings being counterclockwise, as

shown by the arrows in Figs. 6 to 10.

To look stem I2 in its lowered position "to the leg support so that bell I4 cannot be raised to spread the legs when the hook is to be lowered into or withdrawn from a hollow object, I employ a locking means having as one element a flat key l8, Figs. 4 and 5, pivoted at 1'9 "to-key supports 20 secured to projections '2 and oscillatable between the projections in a vertical plane of the stem axis. Key 18 is "provided -with an arm 21 terminating in a cylindrical "locking bolt 2-2 horizontally disposed when in locking position, and with a'weigh-ted portion 23 so unbalanced with relation to pivot 19 as to urge bolt 2 z' corr tinually forwardly against stem 1 2. As theotherelen en t of the locking means, it provide in stem I12 a :V-

' 3 shaped recess, generally indicated at 24, Figs. 11 and 12, so positioned longitudinally of the stem that when the two looking elements are in enagement bell I 4 is in a lowered position and legs 5 therefore collapsed, as shown in Fig. 1. This V- shaped recess is cut deepest at its lowest point 25 where it is concavely rounded to accommodate bolt 22, as shown in Fig. 12. Arms 26 and 21 of the V, forming respectively exit and entrance channels for the bolt, spiral upwardly in opposite directions from lowest point 25, becoming gradually less in depth until they merge with the surface of the stem. The surfaces of these arms 26 and 21 constitute two cams. The upper edges of these spiraling channels are rounded to provide sloping areas 28 and 29. The lower edge of entrance channel 21, however, is squared to form a helical stem cam 30 with which locking bolt 22, serving as a cam pin, cooperates for partially spiraling the stem in the manner and for the purpose hereinafter described.

Operation.-Figs. 1 and 6 show the relative position of the moving parts of the hook when locked and ready for lowering by a crane into a hollow object to be lifted as, for instance, a stack of steel tires 3I resting on blocks 32, Fig. 2. Locking bolt 22 isshown in engagement with lowest point 25 of V-shaped recess 24, and bell I4 consequently is in a lowered position with legs 5 collapsed. When the hook has been lowered into the stack to the point where feet 6 have come into contact with ground 33, the operator continues to lower the crane thereby allowing stem I2 to move downwardly under its own weight relative to the rest of the hook. Lower cam pins I I, also moving vertically downwardly with the stem, strike cam faces I I to start stem I2 spiraling during its downward descent, in a counterclockwise direction as viewed from above, to the position shown in Figs. 2 and 7. This downward spiraling of the stem causes locking bolt 22 to ride in exit channel 26 which also moves the bolt backwardly against the force of weighted portion 23 until the bolt is completely disengaged from recess 24 and rests against the outermost surface of stem I2 at a slight angle thereto, Fig. 2. At this time the operator discontinues lowering the crane. It will be seen from Figs. 2 and '7 that recess 24 has now been moved through the leg support I and is now below bolt 22. Also, the recess has been rotated approximately 135 from its original position. The operator now raises the crane, thereby raising stem I2 from the position shown Figs. 2 and 7 to that shown in Figs. 3 and 8 during which movement bell I4, also moving upwardly, spreads legs 5 radially until feet 6 are beneath the stack of tires. Upper cam pins I6 are also caused during said upward movement of stem I2 to engage cam faces 9 of upper cams 8 and thereby cause spiraling of stem I2 in a counterclockwise direction. The sole purpose in rotating the stem on this upward movement is merely to carry lower cam pins II over the high points of lower cams I0 so that on the next downward movement of the stem they will engage cam faces II. It will be seen from Fig. 8 that the cam pins have assumed the same positions as shown in Figs. 1 and 6 but are turned end for end. Also, that the V-shaped recess 24 has moved to a position above the leg support, diametrically opposite its initial position shown in Figs. 1 and 6, when in engagement with bolt 22;" With the moving parts of the hook in the positions of Figs. 3 and 8, the operator continues the upward movement of the crane so that the stack of tires is carried upwardly to its destination and finally lowered on other supporting members similar to blocks 32. As feet 6 again come into contact with the ground or other surface, the operator again allows the crane to continue downwardly, thereby allowing stem I2 to move downwardly by gravity to'a point similar to that shown in Fig. 2 but rotated so that recess 24 is in the position shown in Fig. 9. This rotation is accomplished during such downward movement by reason of lower cam pins I! again striking cam faces II to cause stem I2 to spiral in a counter-clockwise direction. During such downward movement the V- shaped recess 24 has again passed through the leg support and come to rest at a point below bolt 22. It is to be understood that during the initial portion of this second vertical downward stroke of the stem, recess 24 remains on the side of the stem diametrically opposite bolt 22, as shown in Fig. 8, until lower cam pins I! strike cam faces II which then rotate the recess until the sloping area 29 is in vertical alignment with bolt 22 as shown in Fig. 9. Thus does sloping area 29 arrive at a position vertically beneath bolt 22 without coming into contact therewith on such downward stroke. As stem I2 is again vertically raised by the crane in the final phase of the operation cycle, sloping area 29, coming into contact with bolt 22 allows the bolt, now

serving as a cam pin, to move into entrance channel 21 to engage helical stern cam 30, Fig. 12. Such engagement causes stem I2 to be spiraled in a counterclockwise direction during its continued upward movement to the position shown in Fig. 1, thereby to rotate the recess and cam pins to the positions shown in Fig. 6.

out of the opening of the stock of tires and legs 5 will automatically collapse from beneath the stack of tires. This automatic collapsing of the legs is brought about because the center of gravity of the legs is located outside of the vertical position of the pivotal points of the legs thereby creating a force which biases the legs inwardly to their collapsed position. This force is rendered effective during downward movement of the stem I2 relative to the legs to move the same toward each other. The mass distribution in the legs to provide the foregoing biasing force broadly constitutes means that is rendered effective during such relative downward movement of the stem. To hold bolt 22 more securely in recess 24 during this locked position, it will be seen that the pivotal point I9 of key I8 is located so that the bolt comes into engagement with the recess directly beneath the lower side of the leg support, as clearly shown in Fig. 1. Accordingly, when the hook in locked position is lifted by the crane, the bolt is gripped be-- tween the upward pressure of lowest point 25 An in-' termediate stage of this final movement, Fig. 10, j

Fig. 12, of V-shaped recess 24 and the down.-

wardztpressure caused by weight :of the leg be ready to engage the lowercams when the cycle of operation is to be repeated.

Besides. the .time and .energyrsaving features pnssessed by my automatic lifting hook, it believed that by the use. of the hook in heat treating plants the total charge in a :furnace can be increased appreciably and that there-will haveprovidedan improvedliftingJh-ook that can.

be automatically connected toand disconnected from tubular and other similarly recessed ,ob-

jects. to .be lifted, that issi-mple in construction and operation, rugged and dependable in 'performancaand relatively inexpensive to manufactnreand maintain.

, llit'wilLzofcourse, heunderstood bythose skilled inltheart thatvarlions changes may be :made in theconstruction .anrlrarrangement of parts without :departing from :the spirit of the invention as set .forth in the appended: claims.

,Izclaim:

A lifting shook comprising, in combination, a plurality of ffooted legs, relatively pivotally connected together, a vertical stem whose upper end isfor connection to a crane to lift and lower the hoole'im'eans actuate'd'by the stem during upward movement thereof relative to the legs .for spreading the same for lifting a load, means rendered effective during downward movement of the .stem relative to -the legs to move the same toward each other in a collapsed position forunloading, means for locking the stem in said. leg collapsing position whereupon the stemscan lift the collapsed legs, and means renderednperative by lowering and then lifting said stem relative to said legs for releasing said looking action whereby upon release of said locking action the stem can :move upwardly relative to the legs to effect spreading thereof,

2 A lifting hook comprising, in combination, a plurality of footed legs relatively pivotally connected together, means movable one direction for engagement with thelegs for spreading the samefor lifting a load, means rendered effectivewhen said engaging means is moved in the opposite direction relative to the legs to move the same toward each other in a collapsed position for un loadinga vertical stem connected to said spreading means and having a connection for a crane to lift and lower the hook, and means for rendering said leg engaging means operative to spread the legs or to effect their collapse including mechanism for controlling said spreada ing and collapsing action by angularly adjusting said stem automatically in response to raising releasing said locking action :to allow upward movement of the stem relative to the legs and thereby spread the :same includingymechanism for controlling said spreading, and collapsing.

; action by angularly adjusting @said stem :auto-. matically in response to. raising and .:lowering.

thereof.

ther characterized by the ,provisionof means whereby said unlocking and lock-ing action is initiated by axial movement of the stem arising from lifting and lowering of the stem bythe crane.

,5. A lii'ting :hook comprising, in combination, a plurality of footed legs. Ielaitively pivotally connected together, "a verticalsstem for connec-- tion to .a crane to lift and lowerthehook, means actuated by thestem during npwardfmovement thereof relative to the legs for spreading the sameto a loading position, means renderedgefiective during downward movement of the .stemcirelative to the legs to move the same toward each other to a collapsed position for unloading, :means for angularly adjusting said stem to preventspreading of the legs in response to upwardmovement of the stem, and'means for effecting said angular adjustment automatically in response: to a predetermined axial movement of said stem relative to the legs.

6. A lifting hook comprising-in combination, a plurality of footed legs,relatively:pivotallyconnected together, astemfor connection to a crane to lift 'and lower the hook, means actuated by the stem during upward movement thereofrelative to the legs for spreading the same to 'alo'ading position, means rendered effective :durin'g downward movement of thestem relative to the legs to move the same toward each other to a collapsed position .for "unloading, a plurality :of

cams axially spaced along said stem and camfollower means for cooperation with said cams, said cams and follower means angularlyrotating the stem upon axial movement thereof, and means connected to :said stem .for'len'deringfisaid spreading means either operative for spreading the legs or for allowing th efisame to collapse in response to said :axial and .angularmovement fof the stem.

7. In a lifting hook employing a support having a vertical central opening, footed .legs pivoted to the support, astem axially 'and rotatably movable through the central opening, the upper end of said stemhaving provision for attachment to a lifting means, and leg controlling means mounted on the stem to spread the legs "to a loading position as thersteml is moved upwardly relative to the legs and to allow inward movement of the legs to a collapsed unloading position when the stem is moved downwardly relative to the legs, automatic stem locking and unlocking means comprising, in combination, a locking bolt biased into engagement with the stem, a recess formed in the stem for receiving the bolt to lock the stem in a predetermined downward position, and means for spiraling the stem as the stem is moved vertically by the lifting means so that on an upward movement of the stem relative to the legs the recess is spiraled into locking engagement with the bolt and on a downward movement relative to the legs the recess is spiraled out of locking engagement with the bolt.

8. In a lifting hook, automatic stem locking and unlocking means, as defined in claim '7, further characterized in that the means for spiraling the stem'as the stem is moved vertically con-' sists of upper and lower helical cams in proximity to the stem, means secured to the support and to the cams for holding the cams in spaced apart relation, cam pins affixed to the stem to engage the cams, and a helical cam formed in the stem to be engaged by the locking bolt serving as a cam pin.

9. In a lifting hook, automatic stem locking and unlocking means, as defined in claim 7, further characterized in that the means for spiraling the stem as the stem is moved vertical- 1 1y consists of upper and lower helical cams in proximity to the stern, means secured to the support and to the cams for holding the cams in spaced apart relation, cam pins affixed to the stem to engage the cams, and a helical cam formed in the stem to be engaged by the looking bolt serving as a cam pin, said upper and lower cams being disposed around the stem and facing each other and being provided with faces disposed at angles such that engagement of the cam pins therewith causes the stem to be spirally rotated in the same direction.

10. In a lifting hook, automatic stem locking and unlocking means, as defined in claim 7, further characterized in that the recess in the stem is positioned longitudinally thereof so that when the locking bolt and recess are in looking engagement the leg controlling means is in a lowered position and the legs are collapsed.

11. In a lifting hook, automatic stem locking and unlocking means, as defined in claim 7, further characterized in that the locking bolt is positioned to be engaged by the recess at a point immediately beneath the support so that when the hook is in locked position and is lifted by the lifting means the bolt is grip between the upward pressure of the lower side of the recess and the downward pressure caused by the weight of the hook, thus holding the bolt more securely in the recess.

12. In a lifting hook, automatic stem locking and unlocking means, as defined in claim '7, further characterized in that the recess in the stem is V-shaped, being deepest at its lowest point to receive the locking bolt and becoming gradually less in depth as the arms of the V spiral upwardly to merge with the surface of the stem.

13. In a lifting hook, automatic stem locking and unlocking means, as defined in claim '7, further characterized in that the recess in the stem is V-shaped, being deepest at its lowest point to receive the locking bolt and becoming gradually less in depth as the arms of the V spiral upwardly to merge with the surface of ther characterized in that the locking bolt is' pivotally mounted on the support and has pro-' vision for being continuously biased into engage vment with the stem.

15. A lifting hook comprising, in combination, a plurality of footed legs relatively pivotally connected together, a verticalv stem whose upper end is for connection to a crane to lift and lower the hook, means actuated by the stem during upward movement thereof relative to the legs 'for spreading the same to a loading position,

means rendered effective during downward movement of the stem relative to the legs to move the same toward each other to a collapsed position for unloading, means for locking the stem in said lower position, and means for effecting said locking action automatically by lowering the stem relative to the legs to a predetermined position and then lifting the stem.v

16. A lifting hook comprising, in combination, a plurality of footed legs relatively pivotally connected together, a vertical stem whose upper end is for connection to a crane'to lift and lower the hook, means actuated by the stem during upward movement thereof relative to the legs for spreading the same to a loading position, means rendered effective during downward movement of the stem relative to the legs to move the same inwardly to a collapsed position for unloading, means for locking the stem in said lower position, means for initiating said locking action automatically by lowering the stem relative to the legs to a predetermined position, and means for completing the locking action by subsequently lifting the stem whereupon the stem can lift the collapsed legs.

HAROLD J. CRIMMEL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record inthe file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,169,004 Cargin Jan. 18, 1916 1,317,500 Holmquist Sept. 30, 1919 1,569,918

Flynn Jan. 19, 1926 

